Lake Maggiore is gorgeous, and this boat was a great way to see the Borromean Islands. We were a bit confused which boat company was ours, but figured out how to match our ticket logo to the correct dock. The views from the boat are amazing. When you arrive at the islands the boats just ram up onto the rock and the pilot helps you off and on (this would be difficult for someone with mobility issues) and you have to listen closely as he announces the next few scheduled times that they’ll be back to pick up passengers to go to the next island; you can spend as much or little time there as you want. This worked great for us, and we enjoyed our trip very much.

Trip not what it seems states an English guide no guide if this had been clearedr would have booked a different trip the islands are very pretty

The 3 Islands were great - beautiful gardens, palace and fantastic weather on the day I visited. The hop on/off boat transport to the 3 islands was great and well worth the price which is a bargain. The only suggestion to travelers who don't speak Italian is to get to the Stresa dock a little early so you can find this particular service - there are more than one. And once you got dropped off on one of the islands, make sure you know you know which one of the little ports is your return port. There are plenty of english speaking folks working in the restaurants near the docks that will point it out to you..

An interesting short boat trip on the lake, lasting about 1 hour Humerous pilot pointed out all the points of interest and history. We had a quick look at the 'Prosecco' large lakeside villa Definitely a worthwhile sortie Cannesdid .... surfingsyd

Easy way to visit the Borromean Islands - which is a must if visiting Lake Maggiore! The smaller boats are a lot quicker to move around the islands than the larger ferries so recommend taking one of these. Your really need 2 hours at each island so make sure you catch the earliest boat at 10.30am. Isola Madre and Isola Bella have stunning palaces and gardens to walk round. The gardens at Isola Bella are like nothing I've seen before, truly beautiful. You need to buy separate entrance tickets for Isola Madre and Isola Bella, but you can buy a combi ticket. Isola Madre is just the property and gardens, so no point visiting if you aren't buying an entrance ticket - but highly recommend. The gardens on Isola Bella are grand and spectacular, whereas Isola Madre gardens feels more natural and has a larger selection of plants from all over. The Isola Superiore dei Pescatori has some lovely restaurants for lunch and also a mini market down the back cobbled streets full of cute shops great for gifts.

We had prepaid tickets on the Headout app, with QR codes, and arrived before the scheduled time to the parking lot of Stresa deck. There, we showed our tickets and got a paper handwritten ticket for the 3 islands. The boat arrived 15 minutes late and got really full, so they called another boat. Everybody got down on Isola Bella. The boats were scheduled to arrive to each island every 30 minutes but we never had to wait that long. Hop on-hop off is a good alternative if you prefer to travel at your own pace. We spent a lot of time in Isola Bella, had lunch in Pescatori (as everybody suggests, because there are much more options there) and stayed shortly at Isola Madre, where the palace is just a Villa and the gardens are more wild and natural.

DO NOT BUY THiS ITEM. This is the online front of the ‘lake pirates’. The service is ‘as advertised’, and does function correctly, but save time and money by using the public ferry. You can buy tickets for the public ferry at the dock (the staff have very good English language), boats leave mich more frequently than the tickets I bought.

It worked out and the boat ride itself was nice but…1) strong pressure to buy as soon as we parked and clearly were working to try to get us to buy tickets from them before we realized they were not the official boat service / ferry; 2) when selling us they said boats leave every half hour - when we got to the first island they said the next pickup wouldn’t be for 1.5 hrs and the one after that would be one hour later so we skipped the fisherman’s island and just went to Bella - at that too they said they same NEW pickup times it just worked for us at that spot.

Disappointed by staff attitude at checking in, finding where we should go, getting on off the boat etc really unfriendly and not helpful at all. Views from boat were lovely

We thought Lake Maggiore was the loveliest of the 3 lakes we visited - old world charm, less tourist crowds and the island tours were really enjoyable.

The boat was always on time and the employees were really nice and helpful! We had a wonderful time and we made amazing pictures of the view.

THE must do excursion when in Stresa. Take the whole day to take in all the Islands & saunter at your leisure through the gardens houses whilst absorbing the views about you

When visiting scenic Lake Maggiore a good day tour is to take the sight seeing island tour of Isola Madre, Isola Superiore & Isola Bella...each island has special attractions & sights - plus good shopping & restaurants. Definitely worth taking a full day to plan for and experience.

Amazing views from the boat, both of the lake and islands on it. The scenery was as beautiful as it was stunning.

Great day out visiting 3 islands all with great things to do on them, from historic buildings to markets and great restaurants